1652 Build

[checkoutmyjunk]

Hey all,
New here and thought I would share my little build.
Here is my Weld-Craft 1652 the day I picked it up, had to get it on my utility trailer because my old boat was still on the trailer I was planing on using and it needed attention anyway.

First I pulled the old boat in the garage and took the motor off the back, you can see it hanging on my cherry picker. Next I installed new lights and wiring on the trailer.

The boat was a bare hull, no lights, no floors, nothing. The shop I bought it from was kind enough to use their template to drill the holes for the motor.

First I cut the hatches in, two smalls and two bigger ones. The front one holds my anchor and bow light. They center ones hold my fuel tank and PFDs. The rear hatch acts as a recessed switch panel.

Next I went to the local bass pro and picked up the lights. For the wires I chose a 16awg direct bury heavy jacketed 2 conductor speaker cable from amazon. The bow light from bass pro is garbage, I have to fiddle with it every time to get it to work. All wire interconnects are crimped with heat shrink butt connectors that have an adhesive lining, then I placed all wires in a expandable loom with adhesive lined heat shrink tubing at the ends.

Adding the fuel tank and lines was next. For this I picked up some new marine rated fuel line and ran it from the center seat tank to the water fuel separator then to the priming ball and lastly to the motor. Any exposed fuel line was protected in split loom

Next step was to install the floors, for this I choose some T6016 .100" sheeting. I was lucky to find a machine shop that had a 10x5 sheet for a good price and while I was there they threw a few 16' pieces of 1" angel in.

Measure:

I made a pattern with cardboard and traced it on the aluminium sheet and used a jigsaw to cut it out:

Measure:

Test fit:

I put foam weather stripping down on top of the ribs for dampening. Since I took all the foam out of the center seat and sizable chunks for he two smaller hatches I added some closed cell insulation board in between the ribs for support and flotation but I never took any pictures of this.

The final step was to add my reg numbers, I just ued walmart mail box stickers.

Clean and light:

I have two seasons on this boat and have used it hard, last summer, being unemployed, it was on the water at least 5 days a week. I never once fished out of this boat, I have a cabin on an island so it was purpose built for transportation. Tiller steer was a must for me because it gives me much more room for hauling supplies with out a console. I wanted everything to have a home and not be exposed, just a simple clean layout that was light. Light is important for two reasons 1. I have a 40/30 jet 2. I boat in skinny water, often in hitting pebble bars.

Here are some images to illustrate how I use this boat:

Tractor hauling

Scaffolding run

Materials runs

Bringing junk home

Boating in all conditions
Frozen:

Flooded:

Tote for my rain collection

Hauling boats with my boats

What its like at sunset

 

[Zum]

Not sure why no r3plies, nice job.
Did you think about maybe buying a flat nose hull before this one?
It might have been easier to unload that lawn tractor.

 

[450clown]

That is an awesome build, I really like how your actually using it as a workboat! And building an off grid cabin on an island?! That's awesome. I used to work on towboats and would see little places like that when we would cruise by at 2 mph. And dream

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[450clown]

Which river is that if I may ask?

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[checkoutmyjunk]

Not sure why no r3plies, nice job.
Did you think about maybe buying a flat nose hull before this one?
It might have been easier to unload that lawn tractor.

Thanks, My last rig was a flat nose and yes I did consider another. I decided against it because how rough the ride is on a choppy day. I typically run about a mile from the launch and if the winds are more than 10mph it can be brutal, add that to the water being skinny and the jet having poor control at slow speeds it made the semi-v a wise purchase.

I do not regret it at all, even brought my golf cart out this weekend which would have been a far bit easier with a flat nose.

Damn I got fat!

 

[checkoutmyjunk]

Which river is that if I may ask?

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Thanks, it's the Susquehanna river

 

[450clown]

That's bad assery! We used to haul cylinder heads or powerpacks assembls out in tiny jon boats....3 inches freeboard?.. she'll float haha!
My favorite place on the river was a converted grain elevator on the lower ms I think below Natchez... I'm trying to dig up pics, but this time of year the sunrises sunsets were awesome. Congrats man.
How many wierd looks do you get at the ramp with all that stuff you haul out?

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[checkoutmyjunk]

That's bad assery! We used to haul cylinder heads or powerpacks assembls out in tiny jon boats....3 inches freeboard?.. she'll float haha!
My favorite place on the river was a converted grain elevator on the lower ms I think below Natchez... I'm trying to dig up pics, but this time of year the sunrises sunsets were awesome. Congrats man.
How many wierd looks do you get at the ramp with all that stuff you haul out?

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I'd say most look at me confused, but still manage to ask me "how's the fishing?" I usually say terrible, skunked again. :LOL2:

There are a few regulars at the launch I made friends with, they watch my boat when I run to the store and I bring them a cold six pack to return the favor. The cops and the boat cops are pretty wise to what I am doing, they are paid to pay attention to stuff like that, and I am glad to see them as my cars sit at the launch for days on end.

 

[checkoutmyjunk]

Got a few free sheets of 3/4 ply and decided to build a removable deck for hauling.

First I added some 1" aluminum angle and some edging

Then I cut the boards to fit, but the gap was too much for the plywood alone so I added the ribs

I added a few coats of primer

Then some brown pait I had left over from a kids project

That is what was holding the golf cart up, works like a charm and can easily be removed when I don't want it. I would like to put some latched on them so that they do not blow out going down the highway.

 

[checkoutmyjunk]

The 1652 was under the knife last week.
It was a really nice evening and I decided to take the family out on a local creek for a dinner. Once we got to our stopping point the Yamaha would not turn over. On the water I could not sort it out but I knew it was electrical. In a rare stork of good luck, I was up river and had brought a trolling motor along, the one and only time I had a trolling motor on my boat!

A nice opportunity to teach my 5 yo how to pilot the boat

Once we got back and after some trouble shooting with a jumper pack I discovered that there was definitely a problem with the safety circuit. It was the neutral switch

It broke on the neck and would not engage, so I jumped the wires and it worked just fine.

After digging around in the schematics online I could not find the replacement switch in any of them. I resorted to just a generic google search "Yamaha f40 safety neutral switch". I came up with what looked like an identical switch but it was for a 84-97 2 stroke Yamaha. For 20ish bux and 3 day shipping from amazon I took the chance and it worked! My motor is a 2004 30 hp tiller steer jet, that makes the power head a 40hp or f40. Hopefully this helps someone some day.

The are a few part numbers, 6H3-82540-01/00 689-82540-01 688-82540-11/12

Here is a link to the switch I bought.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GQZSB9F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

While I was at it I added new terminal ends to the battery leads, often times I have to jiggle them and really torque the wing nuts to get the motor to start. Even when I clean them and re-torque them, I still get a snap or two before she goes.

These worked well:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071WKXFKR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The wires, even a foot back were pretty oxidized and found a decent trick to clean them up. I took two solo cups, I put about 2" of white vinegar and 2 table spoons of salt in one, the other I dissolved some sodium-bicarbonate in some tap water, again about two inches and two table spoons worth. First I soaked and agitated the the leads in the salt vinegar solution for about 15 minutes, it was working but not fast enough. I got impatient and went at the strands with a fine brass brush, it cleaned them up like new and took little effort. Lastly I dunked them in the baking soda/water solution for a few mins, stirring them around to neutralize the vinegar. The effort was worth not having to buy a new set of cables to the tune of $170.

No pics on this one plus my crimper made them look pretty ugly :lol: